If, as a tourist, you enter an
Iranian ghahvekhaneh (literally
coffee-house), you will be very
surprised to learn that there you
can have some tea, eat a bowl
of hot broth, have a soft drink,
smoke the hookah, order an
omelette… but you won’t find
a single drop of coffee in that
place. The reason is that before
tea became fashionable and
easily available in Iran through
its cultivation within the country,
Iranians used to drink coffee,
which habit was adopted from
Moslem Arabs who brought with
them coffee along with Islam to
Iran.

The term ghahvekhaneh has
survived from the Safavid era
as we shall see later. Before
then, Iranians did not have
tea-houses or coffee-houses,
it appears, as no mention of
either is made in the ancient
writings, nor are they depicted
in pictures painted on potteries,
in embossed patterns on metal
tableware, etc. Some historians
maintain that people then spent
their hours of leisure in houses
of worship or visiting each other
at home.

After the advent of Islam people
continued to spend their hours
of leisure in mosques and many
men went to the zoorkhaneh
(literally house of sports) where
they practiced certain sports
that developed their ability to
use weapons and to wrestle.

It is only during the era of the
Safavid dynasty that coffeehouses
seem to have emerged,
through world trade, like so
many other new things that
trade introduced to various
countries.

During the Safavid era the
caravan routes were made
safe by a strong central
government. Therefore, trade
prospered as caravans traveled
to or through Iran on their way
further beyond. The Silk Road
which extended from China to
Rome passed through Iran. Its
remains can still be found in
the desert, south of the city of
Qom. The caravans stopped in
caravanserais, there to spend
the nights. Each caravanserai,therefore, was a large guesthouse
where food and drinks
were served, beautiful girls
danced to delightful music,
thus entertaining the guests,
and comfortable rooms were
provided for the travelers.

Coffee was currently served
in the caravanserais and from
there it spread to the cities.

In 1646, Tavernier, a French
merchant and traveler, who
visited Iran several times during
the Safavid era, wrote a book
about his experiences and
observations in Iran. In this
book he wrote that in Iran, just
like in the Ottoman Empire,
there were coffee-houses where
people gathered to spend their
hours of leisure, hold business
negotiations and even to
discuss governmental and state
issues and settle disputes.

The most outstanding Safavid
king, Shah Abbas I, went further
by instructing dervishes to go to
the coffee-houses and amuse
the people by giving sermons,
narrating stories and reciting
the Shahnameh, a book of
epic myths in 60,000 verses.
Down to this day there are still
morsheds who tell tales and
recite from the Shahnameh
in ghahvekhanehs to amuse
people and arouse their feelings
of patriotism and bravery.

(Unfortunately, the television is
gradually forcing these men out
of the ghahvekhaneh).

Trade brought another present
to Iran, through the Ottoman
Empire: the tobacco, which was
smoked in the ghahvekhanehs
by use of pipes or hookahs.

One of the pleasures of Shah
Abbas was going – without
previous announcement – to
one of Isfahan’s ghahvekhanehs
where he would meet artists
and poets. Sometimes
he would take a guest of
honour, an ambassador or a
dignitary from a foreign land,
to a ghahvekhaneh where
they would drink coffee and
wine and watch young girls
dancing. At about the same
time there appeared a number
of tea-houses where the more
respectable and conservative
people would gather to drink
tea and play backgammon or
chess. Tea was then imported
from China by Uzbek and Tatar
traders. Iranians believed tea to
be good for the health and they
drank it while it was very hot.
After the extinction of
the Safavid dynasty Iran
established relations with the
Russian people who, being
close to China, were great tea
drinkers. They had developed
the samovar for boiling water
and brewing tea, and soon the
samovar found its way into Iran.
By this time the ghavekhaneh
had become institutionalized
as a place where people
spent their hours of leisure.

Eventually, they became centers
of communication, places where
rumors were exchanged, and
therefore of concern to the
ruling class.

Gradually, as Iran’s relations
with the West expanded and
more people traveled to Europe
and more Europeans came
to Iran, cafes and restaurants
emerged on the style of
Europe, France in particular.

Then the more wealthy people
who had traveled to Europe
or had been educated there,
chose the European style
cafes and restaurants where
European food was served.

Ghahvekhanehs remained for
the more traditional people of
the less wealthy classes.

During the reign of the Pahlavis
there was a revival of the
traditional ghahvekhaneh
as Iranians were returning
to their roots and accepting
themselves and their traditions
to be no less worthy than those
of the West. This trend has
continued down to this day and
excellent establishments are
now appearing on the style of
the traditional ghahvekhaneh,
in increasing numbers. They
are very elegant though very
traditional in style. There,
you can eat true Iranian food,
especially the deezi, an Iranian
specialty made with lamb,
potatoes, and dried peas and
beans; a sort of broth. You can
then have a estaken (small
glass) of tea and smoke the
ghalyan (hookah).